HBA-CCH H.B. 809 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 809
By: McReynolds
Public Education
3/5/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law allows school districts to use non-instructional days for
planning and preparation or staff development.   The legislature provides
site-based decision-making committees (committees) with the authority to
approve the content of staff development instruction, but does not provide
them with the authority to decide the number of non-instructional days
dedicated to staff development.  The committees are closely connected to
their faculty members, and therefore have an understanding of whether
noninstructional days should be used for planning and preparation or staff
development.  Providing the committees with the authority to decide the
number of days to devote to staff development enables schools to develop
comprehensive, high-quality instruction for staff development. House Bill
809 provides that each school district's site-based committee must approve
the use of educators' non-instructional days. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 809 amends the Education Code to provide that each school
district's campus-level planning and decision-making committee must approve
the use of educators' days of service for which instruction is not
required. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001. The Act applies beginning with the
2001-2002 school year.